Taiwan Land Development Corp (TLDC, 台灣土地開發) has partnered with Ivy Life Sciences Co (常春藤生命科學) to develp an immunotherapy business in Kinmen, with a view to attracting customers from China.
The Taipei-based developer inked a memorandum of understanding with Ivy Life to set up a cell biology laboratory on the outlying island, which could start operating in 2021 after gaining approval from heath authorities.
The joint venture, valued at NT$500 million (US$15.89 million), came after the government in September last year gave its go-ahead to special rules governing immunotherapy, a type of cancer treatment that boosts the body’s natural defenses to fight cancer.
Photo: Chen Yung-chi, Taipei Times
The Ministry of Health and Welfare on May 3 issued the first cell treatment license to Tri-Service General Hospital, allowing it to use cell-based immunotherapy with cytokine induced-killer cells (CIK) on patients, with help from Ivy Life, the only government-certified laboratory with the domain knowhow.
The deregulation makes Taiwan the first nation in Asia to tap into a business linked to cell treatment that could generate NT$10 billion in the next six months alone, Ivy Life general manager Terry Chang (張泰銘) said.
The treatment targets mainly wealthy patients with advanced lung, liver or blood cancer, as well as degenerative arthritis, cartilage defects and other illnesses, Chang said.
TLDC runs a shopping mall, Wind Lion Plaza (風獅城), in Kinmen that has become a popular attraction among Chinese tourists, TLDC chairman Chiu Fu-sheng (邱復生) said.
Kinmen is only 40 minutes from Xiamen, China, by boat.
Rich Chinese patients might desire the treatment, which can help strengthen the immune system without negative side effects, but is not yet available in China, Chang said.
A treatment course would need six to eight shots at a cost of NT$300,000 each, he said.
The laboratory would be set up in a residential complex, another part of a build-operate-transfer venture with the county government like the shopping mall, TLDC president Vicki Chiu (邱于芸) said.
Kinmen is ideal for developing tourism and preventive medicine given its scenic views and a fast-growing number of senior citizens, Viki Chiu said, as the offshore county has lost its young population to Taiwan proper.
The cell treatment could bring more tourists to Kinmen and invigorate its economy as a whole, Chiu said.
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday received government approval to deploy its advanced 3-nanometer (3nm) process at its second fab currently under construction in Japan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a news release. The ministry green-lit the plan for the facility in Kumamoto, which is scheduled to start installing equipment and come online in 2028 with a monthly production capacity of 15,000 12-inch wafers, the ministry said. The Department of Investment Review in June 2024 authorized a US$5.26 billion investment for the facility, slated to manufacture 6- to 12nm chips, significantly less advanced than 3nm process. At a meeting with
Taiwan’s food delivery market could undergo a major shift if Singapore-based Grab Holdings Ltd completes its planned acquisition of Delivery Hero SE’s Foodpanda business in Taiwan, industry experts said. Grab on Monday last week announced it would acquire Foodpanda’s Taiwan operations for US$600 million. The deal is expected to be finalized in the second half of this year, with Grab aiming to complete user migration to its platform by the first half of next year. A duopoly between Uber Eats and Foodpanda dominates Taiwan’s delivery market, a structure that has remained intact since the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) blocked Uber Technologies Inc’s
RSS